The Woodlands also claimed its third consecutive district title and lost just once to Tomball, which won Game 2 of their regional-finals series, while setting team records for stolen bases and home runs.

"It was just the complete team package, in every facet of the game - great pitching, great defense at every position, and on offense we averaged over 10 runs a game, so we were strong hitting," Jorgensen said.

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The Woodlands

Mascot: Lady Highlanders

Coach: Richard Jorgensen, eighth season

2011: 44-1 overall, 12-0 in District 14-5A

2012: District 14-5A member with College Park, Oak Ridge, Conroe, Kingwood, Atascocita and Lufkin.

Next up: The Lady Highlanders open district against Atascocita at 6 p.m. on Friday at home.

Senior pitcher Paige McDuffie, the Gatorade national softball player of the year last year, began having forearm pain during last season's playoff run and won't debut until late in district play.

And her absence leaves a big hole to fill.

McDuffie went 37-1 with a 0.97 ERA last season, recording 227 strikeouts in 202 innings pitched.

The 5A first-team all-state selection also hit .405 with one home run, nine doubles and 42 RBIs.

"You're not going to replace a player like Paige just because she's such a dominant pitcher, and people don't realize she was one of our top hitters last year, too," Jorgensen said. "But besides Paige we have a lot of talent on the team, so I just told the girls 'We're not going to take a step back. We still have enough talent on this team to be a major player this year.'

"And the girls have responded really well."

The Lady Highlanders were 10-0 entering this week, even without McDuffie, but it's not like they didn't return plenty of other talented players. In fact, every senior on the roster has signed to play in college.

Snyder, Bohack, Jorgensen and Prater were all-state picks last year. Snyder set team records for RBIs (61) and homers (13) last year, Jorgensen led the team in batting average and Prater is a standout catcher.

"Kayla's the best defensive catcher in the state, in my opinion," Jorgensen said. "She has a strong arm and she has great knowledge of the game. She just does a tremendous job behind the plate."

The Woodlands also has two key freshmen in centerfielder Aubrey Leach, the leadoff hitter, and pitcher Abby Langkamp, who's splitting time in the circle with sophomore Caitlynn Bartsch, who went 9-0 last season.

Together, they won the Austin Westlake tournament two weeks ago and their own The Woodlands Classic last weekend.

"With all the rain our defense is a little bit behind where it usually is, but one thing about it, we've played real good competition," Jorgensen said. "We beat Alvin last week, and they're ranked No. 6 in the state, and we beat really good Westlake and Bellaire teams, and they're both ranked in the top 20 in the state."

The Lady Highlanders, of course, are No. 1 and proving they're more than capable of handling the pressure that goes with that ranking and putting together a solid follow-up to last year's campaign.

"They had to really get used to it last year," Jorgensen said. "From mid-season on, once we were ranked the No. 1 team in the nation, we had media at all our practices the rest of the season. At almost every practice we had somebody calling to come, so the girls really gained a lot of experience from that."